Johnny White breaks through for first Alexandra Park win

His form in recent times had been on the improve and from a handy front-line draw, Johnny White was always going to be hard to beat. He duly obliged over the 2200m at Alexanadra Park on Friday night, for Christchurch owners Ross and Angela Gordon.

A maiden winner back in the summer at Nelson, Johnny White was having his sixth North Island start on Friday evening. A number of bad draws have thwarted his efforts since in the north, but a good second two starts back, from a good draw, suggested that he was not far away. A workout win a week ago confirmed that he would be a very hard horse to beat.

Driven hard off the gate early on, Johnny White enjoyed a nice trail throughout and was always travelling like a winner. However, when the lead horse Kate Jackson was headed at the 200m, he was briefly held up, losing valuable momentum. Once clear inside the last 100m, he really levelled out however, charging hard late to gather in Ultimate Angel in 2.46 for the 2200m journey, running home the last 800m in 60.1 and the last 400m in 29.1.

A half brother to the high priced yearling purchase from 2016 in Huey Lewis (Bettor's Delight - Free As A Bird), Johnny White will look to build on his improved form in the coming weeks.